General News
18 February, 2023
Far North key focus for new Youth Crime Taskforce
WITH concerning statistics of youth crime increasing in Cairns and the Far North, Queensland Police Services (QPS) have launched a Youth Crime Taskforce to tackle the issue head-on.
Police Minister Mark Ryan and Youth Crime Taskforce Commander George Marchesini were in Cairns this week, discussing the role of the new QPS Youth Crime Taskforce in the Far North.
The Queensland Police Service’s Youth Crime Taskforce will continue to build on the case management approach of serious repeat youth offenders, strengthening the collaboration of government departments and support agencies to break the cycle of reoffending.
Taskforce Commander and Acting Assistant Commissioner George Marchesini said through his role in the taskforce they would aim to reinforce programs and initiatives to prevent youth crime in the region.
“As part of my role leading the Youth Crime Taskforce, I’ll be travelling the state and speaking with local community representatives to get a full picture of the end-to-end youth justice system,” Acting Assistant Commissioner Marchesini said.
“I know there are some highly effective programs underway in Cairns, but I also know there are opportunities to strengthen the collaboration of efforts across the board to get better outcomes for young people and the community.
“We will be looking at engagement and diversionary programs, the multi-agency local panels for serious repeat offenders and prevention initiatives to target disengaged youth before they reach the justice system.”
Queensland Police are employing several strategies to proactively prevent and disrupt criminal activities in the Far North, including walking through shopping precincts, engaging with business operators and patrolling residential areas.
The operation involves extra patrols of hotspot areas, focusing on engagement with young people and bail compliance checks.
In conjunction with a range of targeted youth engagement and diversionary programs, new drone technology and a trial of engine immobilisers to prevent car thefts are some initiatives being rolled out in Cairns and parts of Far North Queensland.
As recently announced, Cairns will soon host one of two new military-grade drones, with the advanced Teledyne FLIR SkyRanger R70 drones joining the Far North Queensland aerial fleet.
Minister Ryan said the State Government were launching a range of solid and innovative initiatives to strengthen the response to youth crime.
“We have seen through Operation Theta very encouraging results from local police in terms of targeting our high-risk youth offenders in the Far North and ensuring bail compliance,” he said.
“We are seeing more young people held on remand for longer after we reversed the presumption against bail – this means young people can’t offend when they’re in custody, and the community is given reprieve.”
To help prevent car theft, the State Government has announced $10 million will be provided to support a trial of engine immobilisers in Cairns, Mt Isa and Townsville.
Most young people who come into contact with the youth justice system never offend again.
However, the new laws outlined by the Premier in December target the 10 per cent of serious repeat offenders. Since December 19, the high visibility policing operation (Operation Theta) has resulted in the arrest of 66 juveniles and 198 adults and resulted in more than 530 charges.
To date, police have conducted more than 1,195 street checks in the Far North and dedicated more than 800 additional policing hours as part of the high visibility patrols.
Member for Cairns Michael Healy said the new task force was a key step toward reinforcing safety in the region.
“The police do an extraordinary job keeping residents in Cairns and the Far North safe every day, and this is just an extension of that work,” Mr Healy said.
“I know these extra police patrols have not gone unnoticed by the Cairns community, with these frontline officers highly visible in and around our most popular precincts.”
